Olivia Dorsey Peacock
lineage
a cousin urges me to consider legacy
to fill up my uterus with all the good stuff genes
and consider legacy.
an aunt did the same once. she probably doesn't remember.
told me I would disappoint a legion of grandfathers otherwise
and honestly, I wonder if
years of life are nothing more than currency.
everyone has an opinion on when interest should bear fruit
as if only a mere dismissal of biological duty
were enough to shatter a hundred lifetimes' worth
of expectation, leaving only dismay
I ask- and what exactly would
you bestow upon those to come?
a long list of accolades for someone to revere?
I don't know if I can offer a stirring memoir
but I feel like breathing has to be enough.
Bio
Olivia Dorsey Peacock is a genealogist and poet based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was a finalist for the 2023 GoodLit Poetry Fellowship and a recipient of the 2024 Director's Fellowship for Poetry for the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing (MVICW)'s Virtual Weekend Writers Series. She currently serves as a member of the Goodyear Arts Emerging Poets cohort. Her work has appeared in "A Garden of Black Joy" and "Sixfold."